You are all RACISTS..!!!

My family didn't enslave anyone. My family isn't oppressive. My family did not ship it's own people on boats to be sold as property. My family does
not judge based on a races past actions that happend generations before I was even born. Quit whining about things that now have no affect on you. Yes
there were key word is were injustices, but now there is not. If you are posting on this forum you are probably not of the generation that was
oppressed.

Originally posted by hotpinkurinalmint
White people in America are very much the victims of racism.

I agree with you there, but then you lost me..

Racist attitudes hurt white people the most in that racism is being used as a tool to make white people make irrational purchase decisions.

White people have been bombarded with images of scary black and brown people. These images have enabled many wealthy people to exploit the average
white person. White people have been tricked into taking extraordinary, and expensive, measures to avoid this black and brown boogeyman. These
measures include: buying houses 50+ miles from where they work in order to avoid black and brown people, spending large sums of money to commute to
work from said houses, and buying home security systems and weapons to protect themselves from black and brown invaders.

What images of scary black and brown people? The average white person just wants to support themselves and their families and be safe like any one
from any other race does. Personally, being a white person myself, I'm more afraid of those white crack heads down the street from me trying to
break into my house than I am of anyone else.

Maybe I'm just misunderstanding you. What has led you to believe that the average white person is so scared of the scary black and brown people that
they do all those things you listed specifically to avoid them?

Originally posted by LeaderOfProgress
I am going to take a stance on the whole oppressed bit. Show me how any race is being oppressed in the U.S..

You don't think the slave trade was oppression?

Oh I know it's all over now and the blacks should just get over it?

You don't understand that a capitalists system always has a poverty class, not everyone can be wealthy. The blacks and minorities are your poverty
class, due to years of biased employees and police and schools etc.

At what point did America stop being racists, the 60's, the 70's, when?

At what point did blacks in the inner cities get to go to expensive colleges?

At what point did employees start hiring blacks over whites?

AT what point did the black race manage to rid itself of years of psychological oppression and the stigma of being black?

But it's not just being black, it's being black and poor, which is the state most blacks are born into. Even most whites if born into that kind of
poverty have a hrad time getting out of it.

Most of you on this forum have never been in a situation of real poverty and the hopelessness that comes with it. Poverty isn't just a lack of
money.

Sorry but you can't just ignore your history, it's what got us into this mess, but instead of admitting the real cause, you just want to wash your
hands of it and blame the victim for their situation. It's your countries history that created the problem, and the problem has yet to resolve
itself.

At least be honest and admit the obvious. My family were not slave traders either, but I admit my race and my country created this mess.
If we could all admit that then it's the next step towards real equality for all, otherwise we just keep making the same mistakes.

Yes the slave trade was oppressive, but I and anyone alive today had no part in it. If you want to go to an expensive college then you need to put the
effort in your high school years so as to be recognized. You see in order to get grants and scholarships you must first earn them. How many people who
claim that they are stuck in society are in fact stuck because they lack the initiative to do something about it? People tend to be dirt poor because
they choose not to rise above it. They take their licks like a beaten dog and cowar in the corner hoping for a hand out. For me, when life starts to
beat me I just get more resolve to overcome the trials and tribulations that we all face in life.

What you don't understand is blacks have gone through years of physical, economic, abuse. Being racist to a black person has years of this abuse
associated with it, a history of slavery and lynch mobs etc. Racism goes very deep for them, and any sign of racism, however slight, is going to
bring all that history into sharp focus.

Now look at you, whitey, you come from the privileged race that CREATED the situation that made blacks slaves, and put them in a situation of poverty
and oppression? Your race created the racism.

So if a black calls you whitey, or whatever, and upsets you then I have no sympathy. You want things to be equal when it's turned on you, but what
happened to equality when it came to all the other stuff blacks have had to go through?
(btw I'm a whitey before you assume otherwise)

[edit on 18-4-2009 by CityIndian]

It doesn't upset me if somebody calls me whitey. It upsets me that I was taught that I'm inherently racist for being white basically, and bombarded
with all this stuff about how I need to treat a certain group better (even though I'd never once given a flying sh*t about anyone's own race) but
despite this, many many people in that group remain highly, often absurdly racist, as though they were exempt from any of the principles taught.
Sorry, but if things are going to improve as far as negative effects of racism goes, I think everybody needs to take on a healthier attitude, not just
the people that did the most racist stuff in the past, whoever they may be. I am not personally responsible for what a bunch of white, sick a-holes
did, just because I too am white. They are sick a-holes, many white people aren't. Likewise for any other race.
Also, I am not asking for your sympathy.
Also, I wasn't talking about blacks, nor do you happen to know what I do and do not understand about their history.
I understand distress due to conflict and groups in the past, disgust, fear of similar action, but hate and racism is hate and racism and hurts and is
wrong, regardless. Just my opinion.
There are lots of things that happened to me in my LIFETIME, lots of things that are unfair that I have seen happen to my OWN family, let alone my
ancestors. I don't chose to perpetuate discrimination and I focus on avoiding trouble and hopefully finding solutions.
Be racist back to a group that was or is cruel, you just give them more 'justification' to do worse. It's wrong, but if you're smart, use some
'defensive driving' so to speak.

What drives me even more bonkers...is people that use ridiculous terms like reverse racism??

I mean.... what is that??

Please explain.....

Exactly racism is racism!

Whether it's Whites on Blacks or Blacks on White, When somebody discriminates on color or race it's RACISM pure and simple.

Yep. I agree, I used the term because I thought it was basically the common term out there for....what I was complaining about. That it would be
understood or the definition recognized, easier than if I went and define it without it.... lol
Well apparently it's proven useless.
It's a weak one, and yes, racism is racism.

Edit: Nobody will like this, and I will admit I'm embarrassed, but somebody might find this interesting - I learned the term 'reverse racism' in
social psychology courses....
I looked up definitions and it seems many are suggesting it's a term created by white people to complain about minorities lashing back at them.
(Which is what I did....but I don't think that invalidates some of my points.)
But ...wow...
Thanks for pointing it out, it's probably the most retarded term I've ever used...

How many years do you think it takes a groups of people to get themselves out of dire poverty after being abandoned by the country that enslaved
them?

How long ago did employees stop discriminating against hiring blacks?
When did segregation end?

Do you think once slavery was abolished blacks were suddenly on an equal level with whites?

C'mon whites have had the privilege in the US since it was founded, you killed millions of Natives and enslaved millions of Africans to create the
society and economy you have. And you expect blacks to do it in a few years against all the discrimination they still have to endure?

Wake up to reality bro...I live in an inner city neighborhood and I see the discrimination of blacks from whites everyday and on many levels.

To judge, prejudge or make false assumptions on someone based on anything, let alone the colour of their skin is just pathetic man.

And we hope that humankind will evolve and progress.... PPffftttt

Never gonna happen as long as we have all these ISM's.....

You know "ET" believers already know that this is probably the main reason why they haven't contacted us yet! Because if we cannot get along with
our own kind does anybody think we would be able to handle some little Grey or Green guys running around?

You see my family is white there fore when you talk of my race you talk of my family. After all who knows who is related to who through out history.

I have seen and experienced poverty on the grandest scale ever. When I was only 8 years old my parents split up. My mom moved us to an apartment
complex, very "low rent" so to speak. Well due to bad decisions, pertaining mostly to drinking too much, she got us evicted. We went fom there to
her new boyfriends house where we experienced abuse both physically and emotionally. She finally moved us out of there to a temporary house which we
were soon kicked out of. We then got to experience the homeless shelter. Not so much fun shall I add. You see there were several holidays where we
only got one or two cheap gifts. I never had anything given to me. I earned my bike, toys, and some times cool clothes.

I now own my very own successful buisness, not because I blamed some one for my problems but because I became proactive in my life. I chose not to let
the past interfere with my future. It was hard but I overcame adversity. I never forget the past, I just don't live in it.

The following is my opinion as a member participating in this discussion.

Every time I see a thread on the topic of race, I like to trot out this gem:

The Idea of Races

"Race" first appeared in the English language around the 17th century. North Americans began to use the term in their scientific writings by the
late 18th century. Racism was developed and popularized by scientists in the 19th century, as they were regarded as purveyors of truth. At the time
this ideology also explained political and economic conflicts in various parts of the world and legitimized the dominant role of British capitalism in
the world economic system. Racism is universal and is evident in many different ethno-racial groups. It is not limited to white groups.
By the mid-19th century, there was general agreement that the worlds population could be divided into a variety of races: groups of people who shared
similar phenotypical attributes, eg, skin colour, hair texture. This process of race categorization is referred to as racialization and is necessary
for the emergence of racism as an ideology.

When people talk about Caucasions or any other distinction that seperates one group from another, it isn't based on anything more than the
physiological differences produced through diet and primary geographical location.

There really isn't a group of 'races because there's only the human race. Anything else is just an extended form of tribalism, imho.

It shouldn't even be a subject any more.

As an ATS Staff Member, I will not moderate in threads such as this where I have participated as a member.

Originally posted by phoebeflakes
It doesn't upset me if somebody calls me whitey. It upsets me that I was taught that I'm inherently racist for being white basically, and bombarded
with all this stuff about how I need to treat a certain group better (even though I'd never once given a flying sh*t about anyone's own race) but
despite this, many many people in that group remain highly, often absurdly racist, as though they were exempt from any of the principles
taught...

You still don't get it.

You are part of the class that enslaved them, as a white person you are of the majority class.

Racism is when you feel you are superior to another race and discriminate against that race. When a white person discriminates agianst a black it's
from what? Hate of their skin color or culture?
When a black calls you whitey it's because of the years of oppression from whites, a huge difference.

See now we see how you really feel. You keep using "you" as reffering to me doing the bad things. I lived in inner cities and large towns and from
what I have see most are in poverty because they don't try to be any better. I see all races in inner cities poor and the like every where. One thing
most of them have in common is that they want to blame everyone else and try to use the race card when they fail at being successfull.

REAL IMPORTANT QUESTION....

WHO'S FAULT IS IT WHEN THE WHITE PEOPLE LIVE IN THE IMPOVERISHED INNER CITIES?

This content community relies on user-generated content from our member contributors. The opinions of our members are not those of site ownership who maintains strict editorial agnosticism and simply provides a collaborative venue for free expression.